Dear Listener
by elena00dgmpkm
Summary: Amuto, Rimahiko, Kutau, and Yairi. Full summary inside. Rated M just in case.
1. Bad News

**New random idea. It happens a lot. I really need to stop starting so many new stories just because I think of a new idea. *Sigh* Oh well.**

**Summary: Amu Hinamori, Rima Mashiro, Utau Hoshina, Yaya Yuiki, Ikuto Tsukiyomi, Nagihiko Fujisaki, Kukai Souma and Kairi Sanjou are locked in a maze under their high school. There they find fear, pain, friendship, love, and the realization that all of them are receiving the same sad letters. But who's sending them?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara.**

Dear Listener

Chapter 1: Bad News

_Dear Listener,_

_I have some bad news and I don't know how to tell anyone. I'm scared to tell a soul honestly. You see, I've been very sick lately. I thought it was nothing to worry about but apparently it is. I went to the doctor and suddenly he sent me for all these tests. For one test they had to take some of my bone marrow. It was extremely painful. When everyone asked why I was out of school for a little while I just told them I was really sick. I really don't want people knowing or worrying or anything like that. _

_Of course I was worrying though. These tests were terrifying. I had no idea what they were looking for. They didn't tell me a thing. You'd think the fact that I'm a teenager would make them have to tell me but they kept telling me not to worry, it was nothing. And I didn't push the issue. I wanted them to be right. I didn't want to know what was behind the look of worry in their eyes._

_Until yesterday when my fantasy world came crashing down around me. I believed all I wanted to believe, that it was nothing, but the truth is it wasn't nothing. The doctor called us in today to the office. We needed to talk and it couldn't be over the phone. We got there and the receptionists, who know me pretty well by now, all looked extremely solemn. The doctor can't tell them a patient's test results of course, that was illegal, but they must have guessed from the urgency of the meeting and the doctor's reaction._

_My doctor is a middle aged women and she's been my doctor for as many years as I can remember. When we sat down in the office she gave me a sad smile and I knew this wouldn't be good. After a few minutes of dancing around what she needed to tell us, she finally dropped the bomb. I've been diagnosed with leukemia._

_

* * *

_

(Amu's POV)

I watched the clock tick by as slowly as ever. Class was almost over and I was dying to get out of here. It was the last period of the day and I was just itching to get out into the sun. It was the last day of school before summer vacation. I was suppose to meet up with my friends after class.

We were going to go to the beach to celebrate that the year was over. Next year I'd be going into 11th grade along with Tadase, Rima and Nagihiko. Kukai was going to be a senior and Utau finally graduated. Yaya and Kairi were going to be in 10th grade. Kairi skipped a grade back in middle school.

A whole new year. It was hard to digest. Just odd. I looked down and smiled thinking of my precious shugo chara. I didn't have them anymore. I had learned my lessons from them. Of course they were in my heart and had taught me plenty back in 5th and 6th grade. I missed them a lot but thanks to them, I had all these great friends who know how I feel.

Finally the bell rang and a few people cheered. I just smiled as I picked my books and walked out the door. I walked to the front of the school and waited for everyone else. Rima and Yaya reached me first.

"Hey Amu! School's finally over!" Yaya yelled. I laughed at her enthusiasm. Yaya had grown up a lot since elementary school but she still was always the same cheerful Yaya I knew. She no longer wanted to be a baby. She knew she was a great big sister. She had once told me that the reason she didn't want to be a baby anymore was because she knew she'd always be cute no matter what.

"So Amu, do you know what you're going to do with your summer?" Rima asked.

"I don't know yet. Definitely hang out with all of you guys a lot."

She laughed. Rima had changed a lot too. She was a lot happier then she used to be. I think it was because her parents were always fighting so she had a hard time being home. Her parents had finally gotten a divorce though and after that things seemed to be a lot better. She never really talked about her father though.

Suddenly Kukai walked over smiling. "Hey guys."

Kukai hadn't changed a lot though. It was true he had grown up a lot but he still had the same childish glint in his eyes. He was captain of the soccer team and could still play any other sport he wanted to. He wasn't the womanizer many people though he was. People assumed because he was head jock it must have meant he slept with every girl on the cheerleading squad. Kukai wasn't like that though. Whenever anyone ever asked him about girls he would always just say he liked one girl at the moment but she didn't feel the same way.

"Hey Kukai. Excited to be a senior?" I asked.

He smiled. "Of course. I heard senior year's the easiest."

Rima frowned. "That's only because your not taking any hard classes."

I laughed. Rima was always blunt. Kukai smiled. "I don't see a problem with that."

"He has to keep up his grades to be on the soccer team, wouldn't want to make them too hard."

Nagihiko smiled and Kukai just laughed at his teasing.

Nagihiko wasn't much different. Still as smart as ever and great at basketball. He of course was on the basketball team but he wasn't quite captain yet. They usually give that position to the older kids so next year he really had a shot at it.

I never see his sister Nadeshiko that much anymore. She's very busy in Europe. I write to her though. We used to talk on the phone but she got sick for a few weeks one time so every time I talked to her she sounded different and very sick. She told me that her mother didn't want her on the phone for long time periods to spare her throat.

It made me sad that I didn't talk to her much but sometimes friends just grow apart.

I looked over at Nagihiko. "Don't brag just because you're taking all the smart classes." He laughed.

Rima inched closer to me and I sighed. She still hadn't gotten over her problem with Nagihiko. She still thought he planned to steal her best friend.

I looked towards the school and saw Tadase and Kairi walking towards us.

"Hey you two." I said to them smiling.

Tadase frowned. "Hey, I'm sorry but I don't think I can go with you guys to the beach. My mother wants me back at home to help her out with something."

I frowned. "Oh, that sucks. Well I guess we'll see you later."

He smiled and nodded. He waved before walking in the direction of his house.

Tadase was still caring and kind to everyone. He was class president which wasn't a huge surprise. He was a lot stronger, emotionally, then when he was younger though. He had really become exactly what he had wanted to be.

Me and Tadase hadn't really gone anywhere after elementary school when it came to dating. It was true that we had had crushes on each other but over time I slowly got over him. We were still great friends but after awhile I just didn't feel that way anymore. Sometimes I think he still likes me but we're going to remain good friends and that's all.

I turned to Kairi. "You're still coming right?"

He smiled. "Of course."

Kairi wasn't must different either. He was extremely intelligent of course. He even skipped a grade as I said earlier. He's a little less uptight but still just as organized as he used to be. He's gotten over his crush on me and we're still good friends.

I looked around. Were we missing anyone? That's when I heard the familiar sound of high heels clicking towards us.

"Hey guys." Utau said lightly, as if she wasn't late at all.

I just laughed at her. "You're the last one to arrive, as usual."

She shrugged but a smile still crept onto her face. "Maybe you guys were just early."

Utau was a little happier then she used to be, although she'd never let us know. She liked looking cynical even if she wasn't. She still was a singer and made new records all the time. She sang the most beautiful songs and she even wrote some of them now. She liked to act cool and collected but she was just like the rest of us inside.

I smiled at them. "Well now that everyone's here, let's go."

I was about to turn around and start walking in the direction of the beach when suddenly someone grabbed me from behind.

"You were going to leave without me?" A deep voice asked.

I could feel myself smile as soon as I knew who's voice was in my ear.

"Ikuto, would you stop hugging me!" I yelled. He just laughed and let me go.

I turned around and found him smiling smugly. "So why wasn't I invited to this little beach party?" He asked.

"Because you're not in school." I told him but my face softened into a smile. "But you can come if you want."

Ikuto. Where do I even start on him? He had gone away to find his father although he hadn't been successful and so after a few years he returned. He wasn't in high school of course considering he was in his twenties.

He was constantly surprising me by randomly showing up just the way he always had. If I was being honest with myself, I'd say I had a bit of a crush on him. But then again, I'm rarely honest with myself.

"Sure, I'll come with you kids." He teased.

I rolled my eyes at him although I was smiling. I turned to everyone there. "We ready to go?" I asked.

Everyone smiled and I took that as a yes, so I turned back towards the direction of the beach. Going through the school grounds was a faster way to get to the beach and so that's what we did.

We were walking in the fields in the back when Ikuto suddenly noticed a stone path on the ground.

"Where's this lead?" He asked us. I looked at it for a moment.

"I don't know…" Rima said quietly.

Ikuto frowned. "You all go to this school and you don't even know where this random path leads?" He asked in disbelief.

We nodded.

"You mean none of you ever just cut and walked around school property?" He asked.

We shook our heads and he laughed.

"Oh, guess that's just something I'd do."

"We should see where it goes!" Yaya said excitedly.

I smiled. "Sure. We can go on a small detour."

We began to walk down the path and after awhile we found it led to a forest.

"Are we still on school property?" Nagihiko asked.

Utau shrugged. "I don't know, I think so."

"I didn't see a fence anywhere." Kukai said putting his finger on his chin.

We came to a strange structure at the end of the path. There were stone tiles laid out and the trees had been cleared away in the area.

I looked out at it, astonished. "What is all this?" I said quietly.

Rima stepped up next to me and looked at the tiles quizzically. "I don't know. Maybe old ruins?"

Kairi shook his head. "I don't think that's what they are. Either way we should be careful with them since we don't know what they are."

Nagihiko nodded in agreement but the rest of us had stopped listening to Kairi to look at the tiles.

I walked slowly all the way to the end of the structure. Rima was right behind me while everyone stayed near the first tiles, examining them.

I placed my foot in the middle of the last tile and I heard a loud crack as it broke.

(Nagihiko's POV)

I listened to Kairi and nodded. He was right. Until we knew what this was we probably shouldn't touch it.

Of course a bunch of curious teenagers (and Ikuto) wouldn't listen to logic. They all ran right onto the tiles and when nothing happened I thought nothing of it.

I looked out across the structure to Amu and Rima. I sighed. Rima still disliked me the way she always had. I think she secretly doesn't hate me but she still wasn't too fond of me. And she definitely didn't feel the way I felt about her.

Suddenly as I watched her, I saw Amu suddenly disappear. The tile she had been standing on had broken.

"Amu!" Rima yelled. I wanted to run out to her and grab her before she went near that hole but it was too late. She took a step towards the hole to look down it to see where Amu had gone and the tile next to the hole broke just the same way.

"Rima!" I yelled.

I looked over at the others on the tiles. Ikuto had begun to run to the hole Amu had fallen down when suddenly a tile broke under his feet and he fell as well.

Utau ran to the hole Ikuto had fallen into but wasn't able to stop running before she tumbled right into the same hole.

"Kukai! Yaya! Get off the tiles!" I yelled.

Kukai and Yaya looked at each other and they turned to come back to where me and Kairi were standing. Kukai took just one step though and fell through. Yaya had been running behind Kukai so when he suddenly fell she hadn't expected it and ran right into the same hole.

I stood there a few moments just looking out at all the holes in the structure now. I looked behind me at Kairi who was just standing there, shaking his head.

"I told them." He said with a sigh.

I nodded. "I know. I agreed with you…I hope they're okay though." I said worriedly.

He frowned. "Maybe we should take a look down one of the holes?" Kairi suggested.

"If we do that we may fall down another hole on the way there, the way the others did."

He nodded. "You have a point."

"Let's go look down the hole Amu fell down since it's right on the edge. We don't have to walk on any stone tiles to look down it if we go around." I suggested.

Kairi smiled. "Good idea."

We walked around the structure through a lot of trees. When we reached the end we looked down the hole Amu fell through and frowned when all we saw was darkness.

"I can't see a thing." I told him.

Kairi reached into his backpack and took out a small flashlight. He turned it towards the hole and flipped the switch.

Even the light didn't go down far enough. This made me even more worried. "If we can't even see down there with a flashlight, then how far down do you think it goes?"

Kairi shrugged and looked at the hole worriedly.

"Amu!" I shouted down the hole. I could hear my voice echo and that scared me even more.

"Nagihiko?" I heard Rima call. I sighed in relief. She seemed fine.

"Are you alright Rima?" I called.

"I'm okay. I landed in a pool of water. I think we're in the waterway. Luckily it smells like tap water and not sewer water. But I am cold." I heard her complain. I chuckled. She was definitely alright.

"Where's Amu?" I called to her.

"She's right here but I think she's unconscious…" Rima yelled worriedly.

I looked back to Kairi. We were both worried now. "Well does it look like she hit her head?"

I stood up and sat down on the grass next to the hole. Then I heard a cracking noise under me. I stood up quickly and looked down. The grass was grown over another stone tile it seemed. We weren't actually at the end of the structure.

Without hearing Rima's reply, I stood up and ran off of the tile that was breaking. I looked ahead of me and saw the structure went on further. I didn't know how much further though. Kairi could see just what I saw and so we both began to run. It was too late though because another tile broke beneath my feet and I could hear the tile Kairi was on cracking too.

Then they broke and down we fell. It felt like we were falling forever. I could see Kairi out of the corner of my eye falling with me. We were both screaming at the top of our lungs until we finally hit the ground.

I was expecting a stone hard landing and was waiting for the pain. Instead though, I hit a few vines that definitely left some marks. But they did manage to slow down my fall, so when I hit the grassy ground, it didn't hurt quite as much as it could've. Which I was grateful for.

I sat up quickly and looked over at Kairi. He was laying on his back. The look on his face said something along the lines of 'what the hell just happened?'

"You okay?" I asked him.

He nodded and sat up too. "Where are we?"

I looked around and noticed that it still looked like we were outside. There was grass, dirt, rocks, trees, and a variety of plants. Although if you looked up you didn't see the sun and the sky, you saw a stone ceiling. Well, except for the hole we had fallen through. It seemed that some of the stone tiles were connected to tunnels while other weren't. That would explain why only certain tiles broke. It was almost like it was a trap.

I looked over at Kairi who was looking around. "I have some bad news. I don't think there's a way out." He said.

I looked up and around and figured he was right. The only way out would be to go deeper inside and find a way up.

* * *

_I don't wanna die._

_Love,_

_A Friend_

**Rawr! That was fun. Next chapter we'll see what happened to some other people. :D Review please. I wanna know if this is any good. Oh gosh but I realized that I have far too many fics going on right now and therefore I feel guilty about so many ideas. I'm probably an idiot for writing 4 fics at once buuuuuuuut it can't be helped so sorry if updates don't come as quick as other fic updates may come. Luckily summer is almost here therefore more time can be devoted to writing. Yay! :DD So only one more week and then it's summer and updates will come at least once a week like any other fic. :DDD**


	2. Riddle Me This

Oh hai thur! :D I'm back again. I couldn't keep away from this story for too long. I likes it. :3

**Oh and by the by I'll be answering reviews here also.**

**AlmostScriptophobic - THANKS! :D hearing things like that always bring tears to my eyes! Well not literally but metaphorically or something. Makes me real happy ok? Hope you stick with the story. :D**

**Foxgrl18 - Ok! :D**

**xXSundae SurpriseXx - Yay. Thanks! Sorry about grammatical errors. I try to reread it but I guess we all miss some things, right? Well hope to eliminate more of those as I write more. And thanks. One thing I really try to do is stay in character. That's one thing that irks me. Unless something different happens in the story to cause a different personality, then it bothers me when they're just too different. Anyway, means a lot. :D**

**XxXBlue N' Green DinysawrzXxX - THANKS! This is kinda random but you sound like an awesome person. XD Don't read this so late. And here's the update as you requested! :D And try not to be so hyper so late at night next time. :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara. Sadly. D:**

Dear Listener

Chapter 2: Riddle Me This

_Dear Friend,_

_I need to get some stuff off my chest. I've been really depressed lately. I've…lost someone important to me. I didn't tell anyone because…well I don't really know why. I wanted to tell people. I wanted to tell my friends. I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell everyone so they could help me through this hard time but for some reason I can't. I can't tell anyone. It keeps getting stuck in my throat. Every time I try to say it, nothing comes out._

_I've lost someone dear to me. I've lost someone important. For some reason it hasn't hit me though. It hasn't quite stuck. I don't know. I keep reliving that night over and over again. I keep seeing her face every time. I keep crying myself to sleep but it never brings her back. Never. I keep hearing her laugh and seeing her smile. I keep remembering all the times we shared and all the times we'll never share again. And I feel like it's all my fault._

_I wanted to go out to the movies that night. It was so stupid. We were all going to go over Grandpa and Grandma's house but I insisted they drop me off at the movies. I didn't want to go sit in a smelly house decorated with small cat statues when my friends were all at the movies. After a lot of whining and fighting I finally got my way like the brat I am. I shouldn't have gone damnit!_

_It was raining out but still I insisted. My grandparent's house was only down the road but the movie theater was fifteen minutes away. We drove in that direction but something went wrong. A car slammed into the side of the car. I was in the back seat on the drivers side and the car hit right into the opposite side. We were passing an intersection and a drunk driver went through the red light._

_The last thing I said to her was "I don't care." She looked at me with a frown but she didn't say anything. She didn't ever get the chance. Why wasn't it "I love you"? Why couldn't I tell her how much I really _did _care?_

_

* * *

_

(Rima's POV)

_Splash_

And suddenly, I was soaking wet from head to toe. And _cold_. Wet and cold like some kind of…well some kind of wet and cold dog!

I swam to the surface of the water quickly and took a breath. I had taking a hard fall but the water really helped. Sure water still hurts like hell when you hit it so hard but it had to be better then the cement around the water.

I looked over on the said cement and saw Amu laying there, not moving. I jumped out of the water and ran over to her body. For a moment I thought she was dead. I felt her pulse quickly, the way they taught me in health class (thank god that class came into good use somehow) and breathed out a sigh when I felt a pulse.

Then I frowned. She was out cold.

That's when I heard the voices…

The voices from overhead! Not from _in_ my head! What'd you think I was crazy or something?

"_Amu!"_

I looked up in annoyance. Why was he calling Amu? I mean, she was _my_ best friend. And honestly, I had fallen nearby too.

I frowned.

"Nagihiko?" I called up, hoping it was him and not some creepy mass murderer that had locked us down here and was now calling down from his perch somewhere.

Man do I have a wild imagination. No more late night movies.

"Are you alright Rima?" He called down.

I looked down at myself to make sure I wasn't bent up in anyway. Only problem was the wet and cold dog feeling.

"I'm okay. I landed in a pool of water. I think we're in the waterway. Luckily it smells like tap water and not sewer water. But I am cold." I pouted and folded my arms like a child, as if he could see me.

I thought I heard him chuckle and I smiled. Then he called down again. "Where's Amu?" My smile faded. Again asking about Amu. She was _my_ best friend. I can take care of her.

I looked down at Amu and realized I couldn't really help her alone. As a best friend my responsibility was getting others to help her, to make sure she was safe, as long as she knew it was me who was really helping her by getting others.

I guess I was a little worried about her.

"She's right here but I think she's unconscious…"

I waited for a reply for a moment before he finally called down. "Well does it look like she hit her head?"

I looked down at Amu to examine her head for bleeding or anything.

That's when I heard some kind of cracking from above. Nothing broke and fell down and the sound grew quieter as if it was moving away.

"Nagihiko?" I called up.

No reply.

"Nagihiko!"

No reply.

"Nagi! Answer me damnit!" I yelled in frustration. That's when I realized I called him Nagi. I stuck out my tongue. Ew, what a stupid nickname.

I sighed and looked over at Amu. He obviously wasn't going to help me.

I looked around and found my backpack on the floor near Amu. It must have fallen off me while we were falling or something. I picked it up and looked inside of it until I found my empty water bottle. I walked over to the big pool of water and filled it before walking back over to Amu.

I threw the water in her face.

She sat up quickly and began to spit out water everywhere and rub her eyes like crazy.

"Sorry." I said quietly, although my voice didn't exactly portray I was sorry.

"What was that for?" She yelled.

"You were out cold." I replied and she got silent and touched the back of her head before wincing.

"Oh…then thanks." She looked around silently. "So where are we? What happened? I don't remember a thing." Amu said slowly.

"We were going to the beach." I began.

"And we found a path right?" She asked.

I nodded and continued. "Do you remember the big stone tiles?"

Amu nodded slowly as if she had to think about it for a moment before she could remember.

"Well we fell through them and now here we are."

She nodded with a frown. "What about everyone else?"

"I don't know. We fell and I didn't see what happened to anyone else." I told her.

Amu stood up and looked around a bit. I followed her as we slowly realized there were two doors out of the room. One door did not have a door knob on it so I assumed that was out, and the other wouldn't open when I pulled the handle. It was locked.

I looked around the small room in panic. I really didn't like being in small places. It reminded me of so many bad memories.

"Amu, we need to get out of here."

Amu looked at me with worry. She knew about my kidnapping when I was little and how much I didn't like being closed in. I looked around in panic and Amu put an arm around me.

"Calm down, Rima. We'll get out of here. Don't worry." She looked over at the door again and turned her head oddly. "There's writing on the door." She said slowly.

We stepped close to it and Amu wiped off the dust on the engraving.

"We were given two hands to hold, two legs to walk, two eyes to see, two ears to listen. But why only one heart? Because the other was given to someone else for us to find." I said slowly.

Amu stared at the door for a moment with a quizzical expression on.

A frown graced my lips instead. "That's stupid." I said quietly before turning away from the door.

"I don't think so." Amu said slowly.

I sat down near the wall since it seemed that we weren't getting out of here. Amu followed me and sat down next to me.

"Why do you think it's stupid?" Amu asked.

I sighed. "Because love doesn't exist."

"How do you know."

I looked over at her, frowning. "How do you know it does exist?"

Amu opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again.

"Exactly." I told her.

"I just do, Rima. I don't know why or how but I just do. I believe in it. There has to be that feeling out there."

I shrugged and stood up. I wasn't going to argue with her about this. I knew the truth and it had caused me to become bitter. Why should I ruin her fantasy?

I walked over to the large pool of water and frowned. The water had to be coming from somewhere.

"Amu! We need to _swim_ out of this room!" I told her. She stood and walked over to where I was.

Amu frowned. "But Rima, if we jump in with our bags and stuff, everything's gonna get soaked." She took out her cell phone and looked at it sadly. "Not that electronics that would be useful right now have any service." She said with a frown.

Rima took off her backpack and opened it. It was true that she had a lot of food in there and a flashlight that could come in handy. Plus her phone that she would really hate to ruin. She had some books in there but they didn't matter as much to Rima as the other stuff. They could need those things though.

"Okay. I have an idea. How about you stay here and I'll swim out of this room. Maybe I'll be able to open a door from the other side and if not then I'll come back and we'll have to get our stuff wet whether we like it or not. At least this way we can see if there's a chance to save anything."

Amu smiled and nodded. "That's a great idea Rima. I'll wait here." She sat down quickly. "See you later!" She smiled and waved and I could only frown when I realized I had volunteered myself for the job.

I took off my backpack and looked down at my clothes. I was wearing denim shorts and a yellow peasant top. I had flip flops on so at least those wouldn't be hard to get dry. I sighed took off my flip flops anyway so I'd be able to swim and then removed my yellow head band that matched my shirt.

**(A/N: Sorry but when it comes to visuals I like you to know what I'm talking about. Go to my profile page to see any clothes that the characters are wearing in this since the whole story they pretty much won't be changing. Just had to get that in there. K bai!)**

I looked at the water that I knew would be freezing from my last little swim in it. I sighed and just dove in. The faster you get in the better it is.

I opened my eyes under the water and looked around. There was a small square opening that the water was coming through. I swam to it quickly and looked down it. It wasn't too long of a little tunnel. I could get to the other side but if there wasn't a way to get air in that room, then I'd be in trouble. I swam back to the surface to get a breath.

"There's a tunnel. I'm gonna swim down it and see what's on the other side."

Amu looked at me with worry. "But what if you can't get air on the other side. Will you be able to make it back?"

I sighed. "I don't know. Amu, if I'm not back in ten minutes then you can come looking for me." I told her. She nodded and I waved to her before going back under.

I swam through the little tunnel as fast as I could. At times like these, I wished I was a fish with gills. Then I'd have no problems. But then again I wouldn't be able to be out of water. That'd be a problem.

I shook my head. I think too much into these sorts of things.

I reached the end of the tunnel and swam straight up. I didn't know if I'd find air but I knew that I needed it soon or everything was over.

To say I was scared would be an understatement. I closed my eyes and swam faster until finally I could breathe again.

I looked around the room I was now in, panting heavily. The room was full of flowers. How? I couldn't tell you but somehow there were flowers everywhere. The ground was all dirt with flowers growing out of them. It almost looked like a garden that someone tended to. There were no weeds and every single flower was alive and healthy. The place would be really pretty but the walls were still made of stone. It looked like a flower dungeon.

There were paths between the rows of flowers and I climbed out of the water onto one of those paths.

The room was about the size of a moderate sized backyard and half of the room was just water. The other half were the flowers with the path. The path went straight and then reached an intersection. The choice was right, left, or forward. Each path led to a door. I took the right path since that was the direction Amu would be in. I ran to the door and turned the handle.

To my surprise, it actually opened.

Amu was sitting by the water worriedly when she looked up to find me in the doorway.

She jumped up and ran over to me. "Rima! You found a way into the other room! You're a genius!" I could only laugh at her excitement.

"I'm just glad I found air. And surprisingly, flowers."

Amu titled her head. "Flowers?"

I nodded my head and moved out of the way for her to see. She picked up her backpack and then grabbed mine before coming to the door.

I took my backpack from her as she stared at all the flowers.

"This is weird."

I laughed. "I know. I wonder how they're all so healthy."

She shrugged.

I let go of the door and then looked back at it.

"Which door did I open?" I was curious.

"The one with no handle."

I realized that I had pulled the door open. "Open the door if I tell you to okay?" She nodded and I walked into the other room again.

I let the door close behind me.

I looked at the door and pushed it. It opened easily.

"That door wasn't locked."

Amu just stared at the door. "Um…"

"I didn't have to swim in here."

"Well-"

"I didn't have to get soaked and risk my life."

"Uh…"

"WHY DID I DO THAT?" I yelled in frustration.

* * *

(Ikuto's POV)

Everything hurt.

Especially my arm though. I had landed in a cold, dark place. I never wanted to get up again. When I was falling I had hit the sides of the long tunnel many times. I also hit someone else, come to think of it…

I opened eyes and found Utau sitting next to me, just watching me.

"I thought cats were suppose to land on their feet." She said with a smile.

I glared at her.

I sat up slowly and felt something pull in my arm. I staggered in pain.

"Ikuto! Are you okay?" She asked sadly. I smiled at her.

"I'm fine." Finally I sat up and looked at her. She seemed fine on the outside.

"You okay?" I asked.

She nodded slowly but then looked down. "Except for my ankle. I tried to walk on it but…"

I looked over at her ankle and saw how swollen it was.

I stood up, only having the use of one of my arms, and checked my own body out. One arm was fine, maybe a little sore from the fall but okay. My other arm, I couldn't even move. Just the thought of moving it hurt. It must have been broken or something. My legs seemed fine since I was standing and walking okay.

"Utau, we have to find a way out of here."

She looked up at me and glared. "Oh yeah, let me just sprint for the exit. While I do that, you should open every locked door with your bad arm. We'll make a great team." She said, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

I frowned. "You can limp and I still have one arm. It's better then just sitting here." I argued. She sighed and held out her hand for help. She took my good arm and lifted herself off the floor. She had to use my arm for support to just walk but we ended up looking around a little bit.

The room looked like a dungeon. The walls and floor were made of stone and it was pitch black, besides the light coming from the hole in the ceiling. But even that light was from far away.

We found four doors, one on each wall. Three of them were locked. As we reached the last door I turned the knob and found it was actually open.

We stumbled into the dark room and some how a bright light turned on.

The room itself was small with nothing but a table in the center of the room. At least the table had chairs though. I helped Utau into one of them and sat down myself.

"You must have gotten fatter cause bringing you in here was hard work." I told her.

She glared at me. "Shut up, Ikuto. Maybe you just got weaker."

I just laughed at her attempt to tease me. I know I'm strong.

I placed my hand on the table and that was when I noticed there was writing on it.

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain." Utau whispered.

I looked at the table, a bit confused. "Why is this random quote here?" I asked. Utau shrugged.

"How would I know? Did I make this stupid table?"

"Why are you so grumpy?"

She glared at me. "Oh I don't know, maybe because we're stuck in this hell hole being given stupid riddles?"

"It's not a riddle, Utau. It's a quote."

"Whatever!" She yelled.

I held up a hand in defeat. "Okay, okay. Sorry." I looked around the little room when I thought I saw something on the wall. I stood up and walked over to it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"We won't get service down here." Utau told me.

"I know that. I just wanted the light." I pointed my phone at the wall and smiled.

"That on the table may not be a riddle, but this is."

Utau picked up her head and squinted at the wall. "What does it say?"

"Heat is the key to the light you seek." I read.

Utau frowned. "What the hell does that mean?"

I sat back down in the chair. "I have no idea."

"Okay, well let's look at this logically. Heat. Heat will give us light?"

Ikuto thought for a moment. "Fire." He said quietly.

Utau smiled. "Fire is the key to light! That makes sense. But what are we suppose to do with that? Fire is the key. What light do we seek?"

"Well it's bright outside. Maybe it's the key to getting out of here." I guessed.

Utau smiled but then it quickly was replaced with a frown. "Where are we gonna get fire?"

This time I smiled and pulled a lighter out of my pocket. Utau gave me a funny look.

"Where did you get that?"

"I found it." I told her.

"Where the hell did you find a lighter?"

I shrugged. "I don't remember."

With that I stood back up and lit the lighter.

Nothing happened.

I looked around a bit more and found an unlit torch on the wall. I lit it but it took a moment for the little lighter to light the whole torch.

As soon as it was engulfed in flames though, a piece of the wall suddenly opened and a passageway was revealed.

The hallway had torches on the walls lighting everything.

"Maybe that was the light the riddle was talking about." Utau said slowly.

I frowned. She was probably right. "Oh well. Either way we're getting somewhere."

I helped her up and we started walking down the passageway, not knowing what we'd find at the end.

* * *

_And, now I'll never see her again._

_Love,_

_A Friend_

**Where's Kukai and Yaya you ask? We'll have to see next chapter! :D Review!**


	3. Nice to See You

**Update time! Finally! :D Yay! Everyone wants to know where Kukai and Yaya are! D: But first, reviews! :D**

**Free Parking: That does equal not good, your right. And YES! Rima's such a little survivor. What is wrong with Nagi? :O Anywho, glad you like it so much! :D Finally updating!**

**LizzieGLee12: Nagi's not dead. He just fell down the hole. Remember? In the first chapter? Anywho, glad you liked the quotes. I searched long and hard for those. XD**

**Flamaij: Thanks! Glad you like it. :D**

**Hmm, this reviewer has no name… well here's to nameless!: xD Yes. Silly Rima and Ikuto. I'm happy you love it. :DD**

**Sk8erGirl798: Awh, thanks! I love hearing these things. :'D**

**sakura240: Thanks! Old ruins are fun places for children. :D That sounded creepy…anyways, love that you think the story is awesome! :D**

**Vampiress-Hannah-Tsukiyomi: Yay! I'm so happy you like it! :DDD**

**Kokoro Inugami: Sorry some things are confusing. In the end, such things will be cleared up though so don't worry. I'm happy you like it anyway though and sorry I write such sad things. D:**

**XxSingingAgonyxX: Hey! I know you! Well I don't actually know you but you get what I mean. You're the one who loves Yoru more then Ikuto. Hehe. And who talks about Rima's little scythe. Fun times. Glad you like this one too. :D But I'm sad to say that since they're older, Yoru's not here! DDD: It's just so sad. And you can ramble all you want! I won't get annoyed. I tend to ramble a lot myself. Kinda like right now…**

**NekoKid: Thanks! **

**Woah. Lots of reviews. Now finally, back to writing! Oh but first-**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara. But one day…one day. :D**

Dear Listener

Chapter 3: Nice to See You

_Dear Person,_

_So…it happened again. Like it always does. Every single time he gets angry. I've been hiding it a lot. But I'm tired of hiding. I just want everyone to know. I want him to be punished for it. But as much as I want to tell everyone, I know I can't tell a soul. If I did…well I don't know what would happen. But it wouldn't be good._

_I know I should've told someone at this point. It's been a few years now. But he always says he's sorry. He always says it'll never happen again. He always says things that he never means. When do I stop believing him? I feel like I have to believe him though. He's important to me and so it hurts to know I can't trust him. I guess I just want to believe him._

_The other day my teacher asked me about a bruise again. I told him that I had fallen. He didn't seem to believe it…again. But I know he won't tell anyone unless I confide in him. Which I won't._

_But that's why I'm writing this letter. I thought maybe if I told you, I'd feel a little better. So let's cut to the chase already._

_If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm abused. I get hit at least once a week. The beatings aren't too bad sometimes. But other times it makes me want to stay away from him for awhile. It's just hard though when the one you're suppose to be able to trust with your life, is the one slowly taking it away. I mean, how could a father do that?_

* * *

(Kukai's POV)

I couldn't really feel anything. I was lying on the floor, face down. And there was something heavy on my back.

"Yaya?" I yelled out when I realized she was sitting on me.

She pushed off of me and was sitting on the floor next to me. I looked over at her as I sat up, rubbing my back.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah I'm okay. I landed on you."

I nodded. "Right." That explained things. I was lucky though. The fall must not have been from too high up. I landed on stone, and then Yaya landed on top of me, and I wasn't in too much pain. Couldn't have been too high up.

I stood up slowly and looked up. The hole in the top of the cave-like ceiling was where we fell. It wasn't a tunnel, it was just a hole. I could see the outside world.

"If only we could fly." I thought out loud.

"Too bad we're not birds." Yaya said sarcastically.

I laughed at her. "If we were birds, we wouldn't have fallen in here in the first place."

She just rolled her eyes with a smile on her face and tried to stand up. She seemed to be having trouble lifting herself from the ground though.

"You need a hand?" I asked her slowly. She looked at me. Her face was one of hurt.

"What? What's the matter?"

She shook her head and held out a hand. "I think I hurt myself falling." She told me as I grabbed her hand and pulled her onto her feet. She looked really tired though.

"Oh, you don't look so good…"

She frowned at me. "It doesn't matter. We have to find a way out of here so let's just go."

I was really surprised at her. She wasn't acting like the Yaya I knew. She wasn't optimistic or happy like usual. I decided it'd be best to ignore her for now though. She was probably just grumpy that she was trapped here. Who wouldn't be?

Well apparently me. I wasn't that freaked out or upset. I just wanted to find a way out.

I looked around the room we were in. Well, it wasn't really a room. It was a cave. No doors and no light except for that coming out of the hole in the roof of the cave. There was only one path. The other way was a wall.

"Come on Yaya. That's the only direction we can go in." I told her pointing. She nodded and then smiled.

"Let's go!"

I laughed at her and we began to walk. It seemed she was bake to normal. We walked for awhile not saying anything.

"Yaya, is it just me, or is this path leading us down?" The ground was tilted down, as if we were walking down a hill. I sighed. This wasn't going to get us up and out of here. But it was the only way to go.

"Well it's the only way to go…so…we'll have to…keep going." She said, out of breath. I looked over at her. She was practically panting. I stopped walking.

"Yaya, are you okay? Do you need to rest?" I asked her.

She nodded slowly and she sat down immediately. I sat down with her.

"What's up with you? We haven't even been walking for that long." I pointed out.

"Well, it's just that, I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. None to be exact." She said sheepishly.

"Why?"

"Well, I was really excited it was the last day of school! I was so excited, I couldn't sleep. At first it just made me more hyper. But now I'm just tired." She told him.

He began to laugh. "So that's why you've been acting weird."

"Uh…yeah." She said with a smile.

"Well I have an idea." I said, taking off my backpack. I looked around inside but I couldn't see anything. I found a small flashlight and pulled it out. I shined it on my bag and found what I was looking for.

"A candy bar?" Yaya asked.

"Yep! I know how much you love candy. Plus, it'll wake you up."

She frowned. "No thanks. I'm kinda full."

I stared at her in shock. "You? Full? Is that possible?" She laughed and shrugged.

"Last day of school. I've been eating candy all day."

I laughed at her again. "You get too excited for your own good sometimes, don't you?"

She stood up, using the wall to help herself and then smiled. "Come on! Let's just explore more!"

I leapt up and laughed. "Okay! Onward!"

This time, I had the flashlight, which made things a bit easier. After awhile though I saw light at the end. It appeared that the cave had an intersection. You could go right or left at the end and both paths were somehow lit with torches. We made our way there and finally I looked over at Yaya.

"Okay, so which way?"

She frowned. "Right."

I looked at her with a frown. "Really? I thought left would be better…"

Yaya shook her head. "No definitely right."

"I say we should go left. And I am older and all so maybe you should listen to me."

"What does age have to do with anything? Babies can be just as right as adults. And I say right."

"Why right? What makes right better then left?"

"Well right will be the _right_ way to go."

I gaped at her. "What? That's your logic?"

"Well it makes sense!"

I sighed. We were getting no where with this argument. "How about we…flip a coin?" I guessed. That would be a fair way to determine it.

"You wanna bet which way could get us out of here or could kill us on a coin toss?"

I nodded slowly.

"…Seems fair. I call heads!" She yelled.

I pulled a quarter out of my pocket and flipped it.

"…Heads."

"Yes!" Yaya squealed as she continued to do a victory dance and jump up and down. I laughed at her and just shrugged. It was fair.

We turned right and I put the flashlight away. I didn't need it anymore since the cave was lit now. Although the lights were dim…

I looked down the path ahead of me and continued walking until I eventually saw dark figures on the other side of the cave. I grabbed Yaya's arm and she squeaked in pain.

"Sorry." I said quickly. She must have hurt her arm when she fell and I just grabbed it. I let go of her arm and pointed at the dark figures.

"Look." I whispered. Her eyes widened and she looked over at me.

"Who do you think it is?…Or what do you think it is?"

"Yaya, I'm sure they aren't monsters….but I don't know who they are." For all we knew, they could be murders who made this cave their lair.

I was watching way too many of Rima's suggested movies.

Finally the figures stopped moving on the other side as they spotted us. I pulled Yaya to the side of the cave wall and grabbed one of the torches. I held it out in front of us at the figures to let them know I meant business.

It appeared that one was leaning on the other but it let go and slowly made it's way towards us.

I took a step bad and Yaya did the same.

"Kukai?"

"How do you know my name!" I yelled. Suddenly the figure came close enough that I could make out a beautiful blond in the torch light.

"Utau?" I asked slowly. She was hopping on one foot. I dropped the torch and ran over to her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just hurt my ankle when I fell." She leaned against me for support.

"You know, maybe if you didn't wear your heels all the time…" I teased.

"Taking off my heels would screw with my balance!" She countered. I laughed since that was probably true.

She put her arms around my neck and I put my arm around her back, to support her weight better. The other figure came close until I could see it was Ikuto standing there.

"So where'd you two come from?" He asked.

"We fell into the cave back that way. We found this path and turned this way. Where'd you guys come from?"

Ikuto pointed behind him. "Back that way. You should probably turn around though since that way's just a dead end."

Yaya pouted and I just smiled. "Told you we should've gone left." I gloated and Yaya just crossed her arms to further the pouting face.

"Can we keep moving now?" Utau asked and I laughed at her impatience.

It was slower going now that Utau was with us and her ankle was useless but I was glad we had found them. I had been worried about her.

* * *

(Kairi's POV)

"So where do we go from here?" I asked. Nagihiko thought for a moment before turning to look around some more.

"Well this place looks like an indoor jungle. I guess we need to find the wall and hopefully a way out." I nodded. Seemed simple enough.

In theory.

We had to fight through every kind of plant life you could imagine. And the weirdest part was that there was even wildlife there. I saw a few birds and plenty of bugs. I didn't know how the birds had gotten in here, or why they stayed since there was no sky. Perhaps this was all they were used to and they didn't mind.

Either way we fought through jungle until we finally found a wall. And oddly enough, a door. But it was locked.

"How is there a door here?" I asked, astonished. At first I thought that this was a natural jungle, somehow. But the fact that there was a door, which was nothing but unnatural, made me think otherwise.

"Did someone…make this place?" Nagihiko asked slowly. I shrugged.

We continued to walk around and I sighed. This whole thing could've been avoided had they listened to me.

"What's wrong?" Nagihiko asked. I sighed again. "Everyone should've listened to me."

He nodded. "That's true. You were right and it would've been smart to leave the ruins alone."

I smiled. At least he understood me.

"But, they didn't listen. And you can't wallow on the fact that they didn't listen. Now we just have to find a way out or hopefully find the other's. I'm worried about Amu…"

He was right. I was being stupid just pitying myself about how they never listen. Amu was unconscious somewhere and we should be more worried about finding her then anything else.

We continued to walk around the edge of the jungle until we finally found another door. Again it was locked.

And so was the next door.

And the next one.

Finally we reached another door and this time it seemed Nagihiko had had it with locked doors.

"It's another locked door!" He yelled in frustration.

"What if we just circled the jungle and we're back at the first door? Wouldn't that just mean that all the doors are locked?" I asked him slowly.

He glared at the door for a moment before taking a step back and ramming it. The door opened upon impact and he went flying into the room. I followed behind him slowly and looked around at the new room.

The place was full of flowers. And water. A big pool was on the right side of the room. But the rest was a garden with a stone path. The stone path led to an intersection. If you went right, you were brought to the water. If you went left, you were brought to a door, and if you went forward you found Rima and Amu…

"Rima?" Nagihiko yelled and both Rima and Amu's head snapped in our direction.

"Nagihiko! Kairi!" Amu yelled. She started walking towards us and Rima followed behind her.

"I thought Amu was unconscious." I said slowly.

"Well I woke her up." Rima said with a smile. But then Rima shivered and Kairi noticed that she was soaking wet. He remembered then how Rima told them she had fallen into a pool of water.

Nagihiko took off his jacket and put it around Rima's shoulders. Rima stiffened as he walked behind her and Amu just looked on and chuckled.

"What are you doing?" Rima asked as she glared at Nagihiko.

"You're freezing! Just take my jacket." He told her stubbornly.

She crossed her arms and turned her head away from him. "I want you to know I'm only keeping it because I really am cold." But I could've sworn I could see a small blush on her face for a moment.

Nagihiko smiled. "Good."

"Okay…so now where do we go. What about that door?" I asked, pointing to the one Rima and Amu had been standing near.

Amu shook her head. "No, we just came from there. Rima actually had to-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Rima interrupted and Nagihiko laughed at her. After shrinking away from the glare she gave him, he looked over at the other door.

"What about that one?"

"We haven't been through there. And I'm guessing where you came from is no good?" Amu asked.

I shook my head. "Nah, that just leads to a jungle."

Rima and Amu gave me a funny look.

"There's an underground jungle in there." I told them. They still didn't seem to believe me. I opened the door behind me and pointed. Their eyes widened in shock. I closed the door and pointed to the one no one had been through. "So that door it is." They began walking down the path towards the intersection.

"But what if the door's locked?" Amu asked. I laughed.

"Nagihiko can just knock it open. Like that one." I said, pointing behind me.

Rima laughed.

"What?" Nagihiko asked, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, I think I could imagine Kairi knocking down the door before I could imagine you doing it." She giggled again.

I wasn't sure whether she was insulting me or not so I chose not to say anything. But Nagihiko smiled.

"I have a feeling I got into this room, a lot easier then you did."

If looks could kill, the look Rima was giving Nagihiko would definitely suffice.

We took the left when we reached the middle of the room and walked towards the door.

I grabbed the handle and turned to find the door thankfully unlocked.

Inside we found something we weren't expecting. The room was fairly big. The ground was covered in grass and there was one tree in the room.

But in the middle of the room, sleeping under the tree, was a lion.

"How the hell did that get here?" Rima asked in surprise. This place was definitely a death trap.

A reached behind me for the door handle. Only to grab nothing. I looked behind me and saw that the door had no handle. Actually the door didn't even exist. It just looked like a part of the wall. But with nothing to grab onto, you couldn't pull it open.

"Well we're locked in here." I said quietly.

"Maybe, if we quietly make our way over to the door on the other side of the room, he won't wake up…?" Nagihiko whispered. He knew that was probably not going to happen though.

"Lions have really good ears. I really don't think "sneaking around it" is gonna work!" Rima snapped.

"Okay, okay. Let's calm down." Amu said grabbing Rima's arm. I wondered if she had been planning on smacking Nagihiko or something.

I looked over at the lion and frowned. "I think we have one of two choices." I began. "We can either sneak past the lion as Nagihiko suggested, and hope it doesn't wake up."

"What's option two?" Rima asked.

Suddenly the lion began to stir under the tree and everyone got quiet. It slowly stood up and sniffed the air groggily. Until it caught on to new scents and it's head snapped up in our direction.

"Or option two was to run!" I screamed and all four of us sprinted for the exit. The lion lunged towards us but missed by a bit. This wasn't a smart plan really. The lion was much faster then us.

I looked back and saw Rima behind us. She wasn't a fast runner and she was falling behind a lot. I looked back with wide eyes as the lion stood up after it's attempt to leap onto us and headed in Rima's direction.

Rima screamed and Nagihiko ran back towards her. He picked her up bridal style and ran in the opposite direction of the lunging lion. But it wasn't the direction of the door.

Me and Amu were close to the door since the lion had been distracted by Nagihiko and Rima. We ran to the door and realized it had no handle.

Amu pushed the door anyway though and I was surprised to see it open. We ran through it and to the other side. There I slid to the floor, breathing hard.

"I hope they're okay." Amu said quietly.

I looked to the door and frowned. I could still hear the lion. "We need to help them get out."

Amu nodded and we both stood up. The door didn't have a handle on this side either. Amu tried to push it like before but this time, it didn't move.

"I think it can only be pushed. From that side…" Amu said slowly.

My eyes widened as I looked to the door. "I guess all we can do is listen then…"

* * *

_What did I do to deserve this?_

_Love,_

_A Friend_

**Okay people, I have a challenge for all my wonderful reviewers! I need some ideas! :D Think about it, they're in this strange place underground with everything imaginable in different rooms. So make a room up! Go ahead. Make some room up with some kind of obstacle for them to get through. If I like your idea, I just might use it in this very story! :O I know, that's crazy. So when you review, tell me what you thought, and then make up a weird/cool/challenging/scary room! It can be man made, natural looking, anything! Even if you have some idea of an average room they have to pass through. Maybe a place they'll take a break in? A pretty place two special people may find? *gasp* :o Who knows. If I like the idea, I'll credit you at the part it shows up in and everyone's happy! But remember, even if your room isn't in the next chapter, it may be in a later chapter. Where ever I feel it'll fit best if I feel it'll fit. I won't tell you what I choose to use, so you'll have to read to see if your place got picked. :D So give me some ideas! Help me out people! :D **


	4. Rescue Me

**Well hello there everybody! I have a few things that need to be discussed before moving on.**

**First on today's agenda I must regretfully inform you that I will not be answering all reviews here anymore. To be honest there are just too many to spend all my time answering here. I read every single one and I love them all but it's just hard. I'll answer any questions asked though and I'll let you know how much I love you all when you write such nice things. XD**

**Number two, I loved all the room ideas. You guys are awesome and I will be using many of these ideas. Just one thing. When I asked for ideas I meant simply for a room. And it's not that I didn't like the plot ideas some of you guys gave me its just that I don't wanna take your ideas. I'll still use room ideas (with you credited of course) but I cannot use whole plot ideas because it doesn't feel right. I feel like I'm taking someone else's work and I don't wanna take the easy way out. I will be filling these rooms with my own plots but I thank you who took time to think out longer plots and just know they were really good ideas. I hope you all respect my need for my own original writing. THANKS GUYS!**

**And now all that's left to do is answer some frequently asked questions or perhaps a comment I heard a lot.**

**1. Tadase. A few of you didn't know what happened to him but if you remember in the first chapter he informs Amu that he can't go to the beach with them and so he's not there. Don't worry. I didn't lose him or anything. XD**

**2. The letters. I can't talk about them yet. That's for later on in the plot. For now you'll have to wonder why they don't make sense together.**

**3. My writing style. I was sorry to hear that a few people didn't like my writing style or my sentence structures and I'm sorry about that. I'd like to say I'd change it but knowing myself it will probably stay the same. I type what I'm thinking and I know that's not that best way to go about it but it's just what I do. In time I hope to improve but for now I'm just writing these for fun is all. You're entitled to your own opinion of course and I agree with you, as I reread my own writing I cringe a lot. XD But just know that I'm not trying to make these perfect since I just do it for fun. Thanks for the constructive criticism though. I always like to hear it to keep it in mind and better myself when I try to improve my writing skills. I appreciate a review like that every once and awhile.**

**And with that we can move on! THANK YOU REVEIWERS! Sorry I can't take more time to sit and answer every one of you but we must be moving on!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara. :o**

Dear Listener

Chapter 4: Rescue Me

_Dear Bystander,_

_I keep reliving it over and over again. I can't get it out of my head. I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't breathe. Everywhere I go, I'm terrified. If I sleep I have nightmares, if I eat I just throw it up and if I breathe I regret it. Why did he leave me there? What sick game is he playing with me. It'd be better if I were dead. _

_Every corner I turn, I'm afraid to see his face. He's haunting me. No one knows. I don't want them to know. I don't want pity and to be honest, I'm embarrassed. I feel tainted. He poisoned me with this feeling and everything that went through it. I live my life in fear. _

_I go running sometimes but I never seem to be going fast enough. I can't get away from it and it's ruining my life. It was so dark and so cold that night. Why did I think that alley would be a good short cut? Why did I go in there? Why did he have to follow me?_

_I'm writing this to tell my story. To let you know what's happening with me and why I've been so odd lately. To let you know that this is serious and you can never be too careful._

_The man I met in that alley was not kind or helpful. And he didn't ignore me, although I wish he would've. He grabbed me and hurt me. He did things that he shouldn't have done. I was raped that night. And every time I close my eyes it just happens all over again._

(Nagihiko's POV)

"It could be worse."

"It could be worse? How in the world could this get any worse?"

"Well the lion could be chewing on you're bones."

I sighed and looked down at the hungry lion staring up at me. Then I looked over at the lioness next to me who looked like she was about ready to kill me as well.

"Why the hell did you think this tree would be a safe place?" She asked angrily.

"Because we weren't going to make it to the door in time and this tree seems safe enough from the lion."

Rima glared at me. "Can't lions climb trees?"

"Well, yes but for some reason he wont climb it." This had confused me as well. I figured the tree would buy us a little time at least so we could run for the exist but the moment we got into the tree the lion just stood there staring at us. It was impossible to get down without being mauled at this point so we were just stuck in the tree now.

"And my questions is how the hell did the lion get here in the first place." She asked.

"Well clearly this place is man made from the flowers and the pools and doors and everything, but who would put a lion down here?"

"And who's feeding it?"

I frowned in thought. I looked around and didn't see any kind of food or water for the lion. How was it living down here without food? There were some animal bones in the room but no live animals. So someone had to be coming down here to feed the lion…but who?

Rima put her hands up in frustration. "I just want to get out here! I've had enough of this place and I just wanna go home!" She yelled.

I looked over at her and smiled. Although I wasn't all that happy about the situation we were in, I could honestly say that there was no one else in the world that I'd rather be stuck in a tree with. I frowned though when I realized it was the complete opposite for Rima.

"Rima?"

"What?"

"Why do you hate me?"

I had to know why she really hated me. If she wanted to continue lying and saying it was because of Amu then she could, but I was done pretending. If we weren't going to make it out of this, than I needed answers.

"I don't hate you…" She said slowly. "Why are you asking this anyway? Are you trying to say your last words or something? First of all, we're not going to die here and second of all, don't pretend like you're not disappointed about your 'last minutes' having to be spent with me."

I frowned. I didn't really know what to say to that. I put my head back, looking up, and began to tell her the truth. "Rima, I-" But that was when I suddenly saw it.

"Rima, look up!"

Rima's frown deepened but she did as she was told and looked up. "A way out?"

"I think so." On the ceiling above us was a small trap door. I climbed up higher in the tree, trying to keep myself steady as the lion licked its lips below me. I could hear Rima following close behind and trying to mimic my movements to keep from falling. Finally I reached the highest point and reached for the handle of the door. After some stretching and precarious leaning I was able to grab the handle. But in grabbing the handle, the door flew open causing me to fly with it. I was dangling over the lion, holding onto the handle of the open trap door with just one hand.

"Nagihiko!" Rima climbed up further in the tree and held out her hand to me. "Grab on!"

"I can't! If I grab your hand I might just pull you off the tree!"

She shook her head. "If you don't, you're going to fall and the lion is going to eat you!"

I had to think quickly. There had to be a way to get Rima to safety and hopefully save myself in the process. I kicked my feet and swung my body a bit until I was able to get my feet to touch the tree. That was when I got an idea.

"Okay Rima, give me your hand."

She reached her hand towards me and I grabbed it with my free hand. That was when I let go of the trap door, grabbed her waist with my now free hand, and flung her up towards the trap door by kicking off the tree. Rima flew up into the room above but I wasn't able to keep my balance on the tree and fell right on top of the lion on the ground.

"Nagihiko, you idiot! Why did you do that? Get up! Get up!" Rima yelled.

I scrambled to my feet as quickly as possible with the lion snarling in my ear. The tree was my safest bet so I began to climb it again but this time the lion was closer than he had been before. He lunged at me and I could feel his claws make contact with my back. I winced in pain but the adrenaline in my body was telling me to keep going. I looked up and saw Rima's face full of tears looking down at me and this made me go faster. Finally I made it to the top of the tree again and jumped towards the hole. Rima grabbed my arms and helped pull me through.

We sat on the floor in each other's arms breathing heavily. We were both just so tired and I don't think Rima even realized she was touching me. I was so happy to be away from that lion that nothing else really seemed to matter at the moment.

After a few minutes though, I think we both fully realized the situation and sat up and away from each other. I reached down the hole and pulled the tap door shut so we wouldn't hear the lion anymore. As the adrenaline faded, the pain got worse and worse. I cringed as I tried to stand up.

"Don't stand up! That lion scratched your back pretty badly. You need to take off that rag of a shirt so I can get a better look at your back."

I did as I was told and slowly took my shirt off. Rima took her backpack off and then my jacket off. She pulled out a first aid kit and began to clean out the wound. It stung a bit but I knew she had to clean it if I didn't want it getting infected.

"Why the hell did you do that back there? You could've gotten yourself killed!" She yelled.

I smiled. "Yeah but at least I knew you were safe." I could feel her fingers stop moving on my back for a moment, before quickly starting up again.

"Lift your arms." I lifted them as she began to wrap bandages around my chest and back. Finally she finished and handed me my shirt.

"Put this on. And then here, take your jacket back. It doesn't fit me anyway and I think you need it more now." She closed up her backpack after returning the first aid kit and looked around the room. I looked around as well and couldn't believe where we were. It didn't make any sense actually, but we had been so preoccupied when we first entered the room that we hadn't even noticed. The floor was plain and white but you couldn't really see much of the floor because it was a bit misty. If you looked further away you realized that it wasn't really mist, but it was actually clouds. A bird flew by overhead and this only caused me some more confusion. We were in the sky? But yet there was no sun, it was simply bright. I looked over at Rima to see what she thought about this.

"We're in the sky…?" I said slowly.

"Maybe the lion really did eat us." She was still looking around in amazement.

"I think it's another room. My only question is how do we get out?" I looked forward but all you could see were clouds for miles.

Rima began to pace a bit and her foot hit the trap door they had just got through, causing it to fly open again. She scrambled away from it in fear and sighed. "Well if there's one trap door, who says there isn't twenty more."

I sighed and looked forward. "Well all we can do for now is keep moving and taking careful steps." Rima nodded in agreement.

(Sky Room contributed by LovesArrow. Thanks for the idea! :D)

(Amu's POV)

I rubbed the back of my head on the sore spot where I hit it and winced. It still hurt a little from the fall but I guess it was okay since I wasn't in a coma or anything. I looked over at Kairi who still looked really worried.

"I'm sure they'll be fine Kairi. They have to find a way out. You know Rima and Nagihiko, they're both survivors. They'll be fine."

Kairi looked up at me and smiled faintly. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

"I am right. They'll be just fine." I wasn't really sure whether I was trying to reassure Kairi or myself, but either way it wasn't working. We were listening by the door for awhile now but all we could hear were the lion's snarls. Kairi had said that was a good sign since it meant he was still trying to hunt them so they had to be alive.

Suddenly we heard a bang and Rima yelling to Nagihiko. After a few minutes we just continued to hear the snarling but soon enough that ended too. I could only hold my breath and stare straight in front of me. Kairi noticed my state and put an arm around me to calm me down.

"Maybe it gave up or something. You don't know. Maybe they found another way out."

I could only shake my head. "No, no that wouldn't happen and they're were no other exists. Don't lie to me Kairi. They're dead. They're dead and it's all my fault. If I hadn't had made this stupid beach trip none of this would've happened. They'd still alive and we'd know where everyone else is, and we'd all be safe. None of this would've happened." The tears spilled down my cheeks as the realization hit me that it was all my fault.

"Don't say that! This isn't your fault! If everyone had listened to me about the stone tiles then we wouldn't be in this mess. If Ikuto hadn't have found the path leading here then we wouldn't be here either. It's not you're fault! None of this is your fault Amu. Everyone could be blamed for this so stop doing it to yourself. We need to move on and try to find the others and get out of here."

I nodded slowly and tried to pull myself together. I wiped the tears from my eyes and stood up. He was right after all. Or at least I had to believe he was right if we wanted any chance of getting out of here. We turned away from the door and looked at the room we were in. It looked like a simple room with a door on the other side. The only odd thing about the room was that there were ropes hanging down from the ceiling.

"I wonder what those are here for…" Kairi thought aloud.

I shrugged. "I don't know, we shouldn't touch them. You never know what could happen here. Let's just get to the door and get out of this room." Kairi nodded in agreement and we began to walk to the other side of the room. As we walked though, I felt like my feet were sticking a little to the floor. It was getting harder to pull my feet up off the floor until eventually I couldn't even do that. I looked down and saw that my feet were slowly sinking into the floor.

"It's quicksand!" I yelled as I tried to struggle my way out.

"Stop moving! If you struggle, it'll only take you down quicker!" Kairi yelled. That was when I stopped moving and stayed very still. I looked up at the ropes and finally understood what they were there for. I reached up to grab for one of the ropes but none of them were close enough for me to reach and Kairi was having the same problem. We had been trying to stay far away from the ropes while crossing the room which was proving to be a big mistake.

(Utau's POV)

I leaned against Kukai for support as we made our way through the long passage. Ikuto was in front leading the way and Yaya was trailing behind us.

The passage was pretty bright because of the torches on the walls but we cast long shadows across the floor which gave the passage an eerie feel to it. I gripped Kukai tighter in fear and he looked over at me with a light smile on his lips.

"Scared?" He asked.

"N-Not really." I told him nonchalantly but I wasn't sure who I was fooling.

Kukai smiled but suddenly looked behind us with a frown on his face. His eyes opened wider and she heard him take a sudden gulp of air. "Oh my god…"

"What! What is it!" I screamed, whipping my head around to see what was making him look like that. But what I saw behind us was nothing but Yaya.

"What are you looking at Kukai?" Yaya asked, looking a bit offended.

Kukai burst out laughing and poked Utau's side. "Not scared, eh?"

I scowled at him as I realized what he had done. "That's not funny!"

"I actually think it's really funny."

I looked down at the ground as angry tears flooded my eyes. I was terrified of what could possibly be down here and he thought he was being funny. He was so completely insensitive and downright mean at the moment and I didn't even want to look at him.

"Hey." I lifted my gaze off the floor to look at Kukai. His face was alarmingly close to mine at the moment. "I'm sorry. Look, don't be scared. I won't let anything hurt you, okay?" I smiled gently and nodded. Maybe he wasn't so insensitive and mean.

"I see something up ahead." Ikuto looked back at them and I looked past him to see a door in the distance. Excitement seized me as the possibility of escape entered my mind.

"Wheeeee!" Yaya yelled as she ran to the door. I laughed at her thinking about how that was the reaction in my head at the moment.

Yaya yanked the door open when she reached it but I couldn't really see inside it yet. Ikuto followed Yaya into the room and me and Kukai slowly made out way inside it as well. I was a bit disappointed to see that the room was just that. A room.

White tiles covered the floor and the walls were a surprising bright blue. There was a bright light on the ceiling that lit the room much better than any of the rooms I had been in yet. The room was completely empty except for three doors. One of the doors was behind them, one to the right, and one straight ahead.

That was when I could hear screaming coming from the door straight ahead of us.

"It's quicksand!" A girl yelled.

"Stop moving! If you struggle, it'll only take you down quicker!" This time the voice was a boy's and I realized that the voices were those of Amu and Kairi.

"Amu!" Ikuto yelled. Ikuto ran to the door straight ahead and yanked it open with the same enthusiasm Yaya had before. Once the door was open I could see Amu and Kairi standing in a room full of ropes hanging from the ceiling. I looked down and noticed that both of their feet were gone, as if under the floor and they were slowly sinking.

I heard Yaya gasp behind me and Kukai looked over at me. "Sit down, I need to help Ikuto." I nodded and he let go of my slowly before sprinting towards the door like Ikuto had. I hopped over to Yaya who was standing very still, clearly in shock.

"Let's go closer to the door so we can watch. Help me over there." I told her. She nodded and we made our way to the door frame. Ikuto had jumped onto the nearest rope and was climbing towards the other side of the room. Kukai quickly followed.

"Ikuto! Kukai!" Amu yelled in shock. She looked relieved to see them, and since her knees were now slowly sinking into the ground, I could imagine why. It took awhile for Ikuto and Kukai to reach the other side of the large room and by the time they got there both Amu and Kairi were now buried up to their waists. Ikuto reached his hand out to Amu and she reached towards him, but their hands didn't quite meet. That was when Ikuto began to swing a bit on the rope, still reaching towards Amu's outstretched hand. After a bit of swinging, Ikuto was finally able to grab onto Amu's hand.

At this point the only thing above the sand was Amu's shoulders and head. Ikuto still held her hand firmly and I could see him begin to pull hard. Amu slowly slid up and out of the sand. Ikuto pulled her onto the rope and she clung to him in fear, covered in sticky sand. I looked over at Kairi and could see that he was almost out of the sand as well. Kukai was yanking on his arm and Kairi was finally able to grab onto a rope and pull himself out the rest of the way. They swung back over while Ikuto and Amu took a bit longer, since Amu wouldn't let go of Ikuto. When everyone was safely on the other side of the room I let out a breath I hadn't been aware I was holding.

They came into the room me and Yaya were still standing in and we closed the door behind them. Kukai walked towards me and I automatically let go of Yaya to hop towards Kukai again. He held me up as he had before and I smiled at him. He gave me a smile back to let me know that he fine.

Ikuto pulled Amu into the middle of the room and sat her down on the ground. He sat next to her and brushed some sand off of her arm. "You okay?" He asked.

"Y-Yeah. I'm just a little shaken up. What would have happened if you hadn't have found us when you did…"

I had been thinking the same thing. We got there just in time and even then, they were pretty close to going under by the time Ikuto and Kukai got across the room.

"Well let's not think about that. You're both safe, that's what matters." Yaya said reassuringly. I was a bit surprised to hear her so calm.

Kukai nodded. "She's right. But have either of you seen Nagihiko or Rima?"

At that Amu's face turned to one of sorrow and her eyes filled with tears. "T-They were locked in with the lion and-and-" At that she burst into tears and Ikuto looked at her alarmingly. He took her in his arms and began to stroke her hair slowly. She continued to sob into Ikuto's chest and I felt like I couldn't breath.

First of all, there was a lion? They hadn't faced anything too dangerous down here until the quicksand room, but now Amu was saying there was a lion down here? What kind of place was this? And Nagihiko and Rima were gone? I wasn't really close with them or anything since I spent most of my time with Kukai and Amu but it didn't mean I'd ever want them to die. And that was only proving how truly dangerous this place was. I looked over at Kukai quickly, worry clearly written all over my face.

There were some things, I couldn't afford to lose.

(Quicksand Room given to me by XxXBlue 'N Green DinysawrzXxX! Awesome idea! :D)

_Just make it go away._

_Love,_

_A Friend_

**Okay! I'm really sorry it took so long to write this chapter. My life's been pretty crazy lately and bleh. I'm just really sorry. Please feel free to continue giving me room ideas you guys might have and don't worry, if I didn't use your idea it doesn't mean that I won't in a later chapter. So please, leave me a nice review! :D**


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